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Extra Bits
'''Extra Bits '''is the fourth non-numbered special of No Such Thing As A Fish, and the fifty-third and final episode of 2016. It consists of clips removed from the previous episodes of the podcast. It features regular presenters James Harkin, Andrew Hunter Murray, Anna Ptaszynski, and Dan Schreiber, and guest QI Elves Alex Bell, Piers Fletcher, Anne Miller, and Justin Pollard. Facts * An entomologist in 1934 wrote a book in which he said "I have applied to insects the laws of air resistance, and have arrived at the conclusion that their flight is impossible." (Ptaszynski) * Early weather forecasters would steam on wet days on television. (Murray) * The company "Celeb 4 A Day" offers on-demand paparazzi services, who will take photos and call out questions as you leave a venue. (Bell) * In 20% of scientific papers on genetics there are mistakes because Excel reformats gene names into dates. (Ptaszynski) * The chemical ISRIB makes mice smarter. (Harkin) * Jesus Christ only has one item of food after him, while Donald Trump has two. (Schreiber) * Claude Ruggieri was an Italian living in Paris in 1806, who used to send animals into space in his own home-made rockets. (Ptaszynski) * The Guinness Book of Records was first compiled by Norris and Ross McWhirter. To find the fastest living thing, they sent letters to many experts, and one man in Africa replied that he had measured the speed of a fly at 820mph. That's twice the speed of sound. (Harkin) * Whale fall is where a whale carcass sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and they are a vital habitat for creatures which eat the remains. (Ptaszynski) * Elephants use their penises to swat away flies and to itch their bellies. (Schreiber) * Colin Powell wanted to run for President in 1996 but decided not to because his wife was worried that he would be assassinated by white supremacists. (Ptaszynski) * The man who developed the vehicle reversing beep in the 1970s regrets that sound, so is developing a new one which is less annoying. (Bell) * Jellyfish eat themselves in times of need. (Ptaszynski) * The nine actors who played the Fellowship in Lord of the Rings got a tattoo with the Elvish word for "nine", except Gimli, who got his stunt double to do it. (Schreiber) * In 1995, 2% of operating losses occured by American taxpayers were Donald Trump. (Murray) * Being President is one of the most dangerous jobs in America. (Murray) * Compasses were not used for navigation for centuries after their invention. (Ptaszynski) * Neutron stars weigh the same as 500,000 Earths, but could fit into a ball the size of Manhattan. (Murray) * Comedian Dave Gorman followed his horoscope to the letter for 30 days. Jonathan Cainer of the Daily Mail wrote horoscopes deliberately to annoy him. (Schreiber) * There is a species of bee which lays its eggs inside empty snail shells. (Murray) * Snails can walk upside-down on water. (Ptaszynski) * A non-governmental agency in Bosnia has warned people to be wary of landmines while playing Pokémon Go. (Harkin) * Emperor Justinian I sent two monks to China to smuggle out silkworm eggs in order to cripple the Chinese monopoly on silk. (Fletcher) * The tobacco hawk moth caterpillar walks in such a way that its gut is one step out of sync with its feet. (Murray) * A recent study has found that humans can predict the future. (Ptaszynski) * During the 2016 election campaign, the Secret Service paid Donald Trump $1.6m in plane tickets. (Murray) * Neanderthals would eat other dead Neanderthals and turn their bones into tools. (Harkin) Trivia * This is the last episode of 2016. ** This is the fourth non-numbered special after No Such Thing As Unbroadcastable Material, The One Show Special, and No Such Thing As John Johnson. ** This is the first compilation (or "worst-of") episode since Unbroadcastable Material. * This episode features audio from many episodes, and thus many locations, primarily the QI Offices. * Alex Bell and Anne Miller guest, making their twenty-third and sixteenth appearances respectively. ** Piers Fletcher and Justin Pollard guest, making their second appearances. * Harkin talks about the old theory that animals came out of nothing, which was discussed in Episode 131: No Such Thing As Walking the Life Jacket. * Miller asks how, if neutron stars are so heavy, they don't fall out of the sky. Harkin makes a comment about how similar it is to one of Dan's Facts. ** Ptaszynski relates a fact about humans being able to predict sequences of images. Schreiber believes it sounds like something he would say. Category:No Such Thing As A Fish Category:2016 Category:Specials